Edens heads professional development at Morning Pointe Senior Living and more Chattanooga-area career moves

Edens heads pro development at Morning Pointe Senior Living

Morning Pointe Senior Living recently appointed Scott Edens as its new vice president of professional development.

In this role, Edens will support the company’s initiatives and culture in human resources, life enrichment and food services, according to a news release.

Edens most recently served as president of Potentia Living, a senior living organization focused on senior vitality. He also served as principal of Edens Group, LLC, a leadership/executive coaching, speaking and consulting firm. He is a certified professional coach trained at the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching, the release stated.

“I am really excited to be here,” said Edens in the release. “What drew me to Morning Pointe was the reputation in the community and the longevity of serving seniors.”

Edens earned a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of St. Francis. He earned his bachelor’s degree in long-term health care administration from Southern Adventist University and won the 1991 Forrest L. Preston Award for Outstanding Achievement.

The Speech and Hearing Center adds new staff, board members

The past two months have seen the addition of three staff and four board members to The Speech and Hearing Center’s ranks, according to a news release.

“It’s an exciting time for the Center,” said Taylor Bostwick, president and CEO in the release. “We turn 70 next year and are starting to think about what we want our next 70 years to look like. We’re getting the right team in place, so we can continue to meet the needs of the community and provide equitable access to specialized healthcare for all.”

New team members include:

› Dr. Gretchen Switzer, audiologist, who is a graduate of the University of South Alabama, where she earned her doctoral degree in audiology. She has been in practice for more than 16 years, according to the release.

› Rebecca Winkler, a speech-language pathologist, who is bilingual and enjoys helping children of all ages improve their ability to communicate and provides therapy in both English and Spanish.

› Sandy Zabel is director of development. Zabel has worked as an accountant, a financial analyst and a small business owner. Most recently, she helped shape the development department of Northside Neighborhood House; planning events, cultivating donor relationships and educating the community, according to the release.

New board members include Shelly Killian, board treasurer; and Joey Thomas, Melissa White and Christopher Cooper.

Text Request earns Type 2 compliance

Text Request, the industry-leading business messaging platform, announced that its System and Organization Controls have approved 2 compliance certification, a designation established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants to extend third-party validation of security procedures for organizations that manage sensitive data, a news release stated.

Systems and Organization Controls Type 2 certification is awarded to companies who comply with one or more “trust principles” identified by the program. Text Request focused on the security principle, which establishes parameters for the protection of data. Gaining this certification demonstrates Text Request’s high standard for protecting user account information at all levels, according to the release.

“Account security is and has always been a critically important component of our work at Text Request,” said Rob Reagan, the chief technical officer at Text Request in the release. “This certification means that the careful steps we have taken along the way are, in fact, protecting our customers, as well as their own customers with whom they are communicating through our platform.”

Drs. Cowan, DiGiulio, Vijayvargiya join Erlanger medical practices

Erlanger Medical Group welcomes Krista Cowan, Mary DiGiulio and Priya Vijayvargiya to its growing list of medical providers, according to a news release.

Cowan is a board-certified family medicine physician at Erlanger Primary Care – Soddy Daisy. She recently completed residency training, where she also served as chief resident, at Erlanger’s UT Family Practice, affiliated with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine – Chattanooga, the release stated. Originally from Memphis, Cowan attended the University of Tennessee Knoxville for her undergraduate education and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis for her medical training.

DiGiulio is a board-certified family medicine physician at Erlanger Primary Care – East and has more than 15 years of experience working in Army medicine, the release stated. She attended Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Vallejo, California. Following her medical education, DiGiulio completed a family medicine residency at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center in Fort Hood, Texas, where she began her medical career with the Army, according to the release.

Vijayvargiya is a board- certified gastroenterologist who specializes in motility disorders including diarrhea, constipation and gastroparesis. After earning her doctor of medicine degree from Thomas Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Vijayvargiya completed both an internal medicine residency and a gastroenterology fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Dr. Gross joins CHI Memorial’s Buz Standefer Lung Center

Angelique Gross has joined the Buz Standefer Lung Center and CHI Memorial Lung Care Associates, according to a news release.

Dr. Gross earned her medical degree from Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Ga. She completed her residency and pulmonary and critical care fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, the release stated. Gross is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, board-certified in pulmonary medicine, and a member of the American College of Chest Physicians. She is bilingual in English and Spanish.

Hammontree, Carrington, Moore join Austin Hatcher Foundation

The Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer expands its growing team with the recent addition of Melanie Hammontree, Anna Carrington and Georgia Moore, according to a news release.

Hammontree is the new director of development and is responsible for developing and executing the foundation’s short- and long-term fundraising plans, managing sponsorships and identifying partners for event campaigns, grants and partnerships. She previously served as the director of development of the Chattanooga Area Food Bank for five years, according to the release.

After serving as a child and family intern in 2019, Carrington returns to the foundation’s clinical staff where she is tasked with managing and executing enrichment events for families, challenging children in fun educational activities and supervising volunteers for family program needs, the release stated. Carrington received her bachelor’s degree in Child and Family Development from Georgia Southern University and works as the Summer Camp Director of Athens Y Camps: Camp Chattooga for Girls over the summer.

Georgia Moore joins the staff as events and community relations, Moore recently graduated with her master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga in 2022, after receiving her bachelor’s in Family and Consumer Sciences from the University of Georgia in 2020.

Happy Feet International adds three sales managers

Happy Feet International, a producer of luxury vinyl plank and tile headquartered in Chattanooga, has added three team members to its management team. Scott Jones, John Thompson and Andy Friedlander are the company’s new territory sales managers for South and East Texas and Eastern North Carolina, according to a news release.

“Happy Feet is experiencing steady growth and we are successful because of our people and our commitment to the work that we do,” said CEO Casey Johnson in the release.

Jones is Happy Feet’s new territory sales manager for the East Texas region. He has 28 years of experience in the sales and installation of all types of flooring, and his vast knowledge of flooring also includes business operations and strategic sales growth, the release stated. Previously, Jones worked as a sales agent for Regal Hardwoods in an undeveloped territory serving Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.

Thompson is also joining Happy Feet as a territory sales manager in Texas and will be responsible for attracting new clients, securing accounts and maximizing profitability near and around the Austin area. The native Texan has been in the floor covering industry his entire adult life, leading him to start his own retail business for a time, which was Floors Unlimited in Lufkin, Texas, according to the release.

Friedlander is Happy Feet’s new territory sales manager for the Eastern North Carolina region. His past experience includes work as a territory sales manager for Shaw Industries, where he managed almost 80 flooring accounts. In addition to navigating the daily ins and outs of the flooring business, he used his flooring knowledge to run product classes for retail sales associates, the release stated.

— Compiled by Brandi Dixon

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